Frontline pay-off

The general assumption in New Delhi’s “strategic community” is that it is in India’s interest for Americans troops to stay on in Kabul. The theory is that the US is doing the hard work that is beyond Indian military capability, and that US troops are preventing Afghanistan from falling into the hands of a Pakistan-controlled Taliban. That is why the prospect of a US pull-out is viewed in New Delhi with mild alarm. It is also why Pakistan is busy playing its double-game of pretending to be an American ally while undermining its military efforts — Islamabad badly wants the US to leave Kabul. The US knows this, but turns a blind eye because its only real access to Afghanistan is through Pakistan. In this game of double bluff, who is the loser? India, of course.